FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2011-45

Washington, D.C., Feb. 17, 2011 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Lona Nallengara has been named Deputy Director for Legal and Regulatory Policy in the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance.

Mr. Nallengara will play a key role in the Division's extensive rulemaking agenda. Mr. Nallengara also will focus on potential proposals to enhance the U.S. proxy system and initiatives to ease compliance burdens and facilitate capital formation for small business.

Mr. Nallengara joins the SEC from Shearman & Sterling LLP in New York, where he has been a partner in the Capital Markets practice group.

“I am delighted that Lona has agreed to join the Division at this critical – and very busy – time for the agency,” said Meredith Cross, Director of the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance. “His extensive capital markets background coupled with his experience in advising corporate issuers on governance matters and compliance with the federal securities laws will be invaluable to both the Division and the Commission in fulfilling our mission.”

Mr. Nallengara said, “I am honored to have this opportunity to work at the Commission during this important and challenging time. I look forward to working with Meredith and the dedicated staff of the Division of Corporation Finance to carry out the SEC’s mission of investor protection and facilitating capital formation.”

As Deputy Director, Mr. Nallengara will oversee the Division’s Offices of Chief Counsel, Enforcement Liaison, International Corporate Finance, Mergers & Acquisitions, and Small Business Policy. He joins fellow Division deputy directors Paula Dubberly, who oversees the Offices of Rulemaking, Capital Markets Trends, and Structured Finance, and Shelley Parratt, who oversees disclosure operations. Mr. Nallengara replaces Brian Breheny, who left the agency last year.

At Shearman & Sterling, Mr. Nallengara advised public companies and financial institutions in a wide range of capital raising activities and on corporate governance, public reporting, and mergers and acquisitions matters. Mr. Nallengara also served as the firm’s Co-Hiring Partner, Co-Chair of the Associate Development Committee, Co-Chair of the International Associates and Trainees Committee, and as a member of its Diversity Committee.

Prior to joining Shearman & Sterling LLP in 1998, Mr. Nallengara was an associate in the corporate practice group at the law firm of Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP in Toronto, Canada.

Mr. Nallengara earned his law degree in 1996 from Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto and his undergraduate degree in Political Science in 1993 from the University of Western Ontario in London, Canada.